Our Journey Online - February 22, 2013

It’s Relationship, Not Religion

9The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,13who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. —John 1:9-13

I read a compelling tweet by a pastor in California which said, “Religion does not provide an opportunity to actually know God, and is therefore cruel, powerless, and boring” (Bill Johnson).

Knowing God and being in a relationship with Hhimis what every human being, whether they’re aware of it or not, is longing for and searching after. What most do to achieve that relationship is to establish some sort of religious observance. The options are literally limitless when you consider all the established world religions and faith systems people are encouraged to create for themselves.

So people go to places of worship and perform rituals. They meditate, read, study, memorize holy books and writings, chant, sing, recite, and sit in silence. People make pilgrimages, go on missions trips, proselytize and teach others about their particular way of getting to “god” or whatever it is they’ve chosen to worship.

Why do people do all this? In the words of the apostle Paul, “That they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him” (Acts 17:27a). But it is a vain hope when religion is the means of seeking. From the beginning, God related to His creation on a personal level. Adam and God walked together in the garden and conversed as one person talks to another.

Throughout Old Testament history, prior to the coming of Christ, God related to His people as Father. He gathered them as a family. He loved them, watched over them, and provided for them. He listened to them and gave them good gifts. It was never because of what they did (religion) but because of His faithful love for them (relationship). The incarnation of Jesus Christ as a human being was all about God relating to us, literally becoming like us, in order to save us. It was the ultimate expression of His love.

That we have taken His love and the offer of a relationship and encumbered it with religion is our own undoing. By creating a set of rules and practices by which we try to gain God’s attention, we actually miss out entirely. Religion is our ineffectual way of getting to God, dependent on what we do. Relationship is His way of getting to us, dependent entirely on what He did. —Todd Dugard

Journal:

Have I ever asked myself if I have a true relationship with God? Or is my faith in a set of rituals and traditions?

How can I tell the difference?

Prayer – Father, You created the world to have a place for mankind so You could have a relationship with us, Your creation. Forgive me for trading in a love relationship with You for a set of rules that I must follow or traditions I must observe in order to have You love me. Help me to be careful not to fall into a worship of tradition. Remind me that grace is something You freely offer in Your Son Jesus Christ, in whose name I pray, Amen.

What if you believed—truly believed with all confidence that God is with you? How would today go for you if you knew without a doubt that God is in control? What would be different in your life if you were sure God is watching and good? What would you risk if you were certain God is victorious?

Just how would believing God’s promises change your life?

Ask the greatest Christian you’ll ever meet if they hold on to God’s promises and they’ll all say yes. Believing that God will do what He promises leads to a great life. The greatest Christian you’ll every meet knows, treasures, and is resting in the promises of God. They cling to these assurances that God gives His people so they can walk by faith while they wait for Him to work.

So what exactly does God promise? In this topical study of what will always be true, Pastor James MacDonald will explore five great and precious promises that God keeps. Enter into this study with anticipation and faith that the God who makes these promises is faithful and true... always true.

Pastor James MacDonald preaches without apology straight from the pages of Scripture, provoking Christians to think and act on their faith. His Bible-teaching ministry, Walk in the Word, launched on as a radio broadcast in 1997, with the mission of "igniting passion in the people of God through the proclamation of truth."

About Dr. James MacDonald

James MacDonald (D. Min., Phoenix Seminary) is the founder and Senior Pastor of Harvest Bible Chapel. He has led the church from the time it began with just 18 people in 1988 to the present, where 13,000 people attend seven campuses in the Chicago area weekly. His practical teaching of God’s Word is broadcast daily around the world on radio and TV through the program Walk in the Word, and more than 160 vertical churches have been planted on four continents under Dr. MacDonald’s leadership. Pastor James has authored several books and Bible studies, including: Act Like Men; Vertical Church; Lord, Change Me; Lord, Change My Attitude; When Life is Hard; Always True; and most recently, The Will of God IS the Word of God. He and his wife Kathy live in the Chicagoland area near their seven beloved grandchildren, and three adult children who serve alongside them in ministry.